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Taking stock

Stock — chicken, vegetable or beef — is a must-have ingredient in my kitchen. I use it at least a couple times a week in the fall, winter and spring for soups, one-pot dinners such as jambalaya or chili, stir-fries, sauces and to cook grains such as rice and couscous.
To supply this demand, my freezer is always well “stocked” with two things: homemade stock in 250 mL jars and 500 mL and larger plastic containers; and the ingredients for making stock.
When making stock, I generally start with chicken bones, although I make vegetable stock fairly regularly and beef stock when I have a bone or two on hand. I save the carcasses from roasted birds (chicken or turkey). And I also buy chicken breasts on the bone, which are almost always cheaper than boneless, bone them myself and throw the bones in a bag in the freezer until I’m ready to make stock. Whenever I spatchcock a chicken, I save the backbone too.
I use another bag to store vegetable trimmings: the peelings and ends from carrots (scrub your carrots first, of course), celery leaves, onion ends, mushroom stems, broccoli stalks, woody asparagus ends, etc.
To make stock, put some bones, a lot of the veggie scraps, a bay leaf or two and some black peppercorns in a big pot and cover with water. Simmer for an hour or two, let cool slightly, then strain and ladle into containers to freeze.